


Beginnings

by hunters_retreat



Series: The Face [6]
Category: Dark Angel, Supernatural, Supernatural RPF, Supernatural/RPS/Dark Angel/10 Inch Hero Crossover, Ten Inch Hero
Genre: Crossover, Other, POV Dean, Post-Apocalypse, Psychic Apocalypse, moresome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 10:51:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4826339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He took a step back before he could stop himself.  Another one of them.  He didn’t know why, didn’t understand it, but there he was all the same.  He took a deep breath and Alec filled the silence.  “Dean, Jensen.  Jensen, Dean.  Now let’s get the hell out of here.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Futuristic AU. Beset with loss and grief, in a world they no longer known, Dean, Jensen, Alec, and Priestly find one another and challenge the world around them.

  
Dean pushed his way back against the wall, blood dripping from the bullet wound on his forearm, making the grip on his gun slippery.He’d dealt with worse and lived through it.He hoped he could say the same by the end of the day.

Dean barely made it to supply before he heard Alec screaming orders at the men. Most of the people in the base were soldiers, but they still had a batch of new ‘scapes that hadn’t been sent along so they didn’t know what the hell to do. Dean had to stop three times since the alarm went up as he came across groups of them, trying to tell them where to go as quick as possible so he could get to the others. He hadn’t made it past the first one before they were gunned down and he realized that this wasn’t a drill or an accident. They’d been discovered.

“Alec?”

“I’ve got Priestly!”He heard the Transgenic yell at him.Dean thumped the back of his head against the wall and took a deep breath.

“Where’s Jensen?” Alec yelled back when Dean didn’t answer.

“I don’t know.”

“Dean…” He could hear the censure in the word right alongside the concern.

“I’ll find him. He wasn’t at station.”

“Detox.” He could tell it was Priestly by the uncertain waiver in the voice. Alec’s voice never waivered in combat and neither did Dean’s. Hell, Alec got downright giddy during firefights and turned dramatically morbid after the fact. Dean just got pissed.

“What the hell is he doing in detox?”

“He went down to talk to one of the new ‘scapes this morning.”

Dean wanted to be pissed, but it was just one of the things Jensen did.He couldn’t be mad because the poor ‘scapes in detox needed the support, needed the comforting words and the way Jensen helped them understand where they were once the psychic drugs were eliminated from their system.He helped them find the real world.

Dean wasn’t a big believer in coincidence though and the base being attacked while Jensen was down with a new ‘scape in detox made his fingers itch for another gun; something longer and faster and harder than the one already in his hands.

“I’ll go check it out.”

“Dean, we-”

“No. Get Priestly out. Get anyone you can out. They should know where to go.”

“And you?”

Their eyes met for the first time and Dean could see the fear there. Alec wasn’t afraid of dying, but he was afraid of losing the people he cared about. Dean wished he had time to do something about that look but he couldn’t. He had to find Jensen first. “We’ll meet you at 3.”

Alec nodded. “Count down until we see you?”

Dean nodded, knowing that Alec would know how to find him in case their escape plan had been compromised.

“I’ll bring him out Alec.”

“Bring yourself out too Dean.” Priestly said from behind the other man.

Dean just nodded as Alec laid down cover fire and he ran, trying to make his way through the bunker and into the lower levels of the abandoned base.

 

 

It wasn’t as hard to get down to detox as it had been to get to supply, but that didn’t mean it was easy. Dean cursed the whole way down, taking his anger out on anyone that stood in his way. He didn’t let himself think about Alec and Priestly. Alec would take care of Priestly and Priestly would take care of Alec. They’d be fine. He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by think otherwise. Alec understood that Dean wouldn’t come back for them. It was an understanding between them. Dean would move hell and high water if something happened to Alec, but he had to trust someone with the others and Alec was the best soldier out of them anyway.

He rounded the last corner to detox and he found three guards outside.Their own men were on the floor, blood oozing in a big enough puddle that he knew both were dead.Dean took a deep breath and watched, taking the time to figure out which was likely to be the psychic.It just took a minute before he saw the tattoos on the two of them, saw the way their eyes darted back and forth between them while the third didn’t move at all.

His first shot took the psychic down and he watched the backlash stagger one of the men.His gun rang out again, this time taking the standing man.He felt a tinge of regret as he aimed the last time, killing the man that was barely able to stand on his feet.It was the same way he’d always felt about killing a possessed person.You did what you had to, but Dean could still feel bad about killing the person who had no choice.Unlike his own tattoo and the connection that he and Sam had forged, the other two men weren’t so lucky.Their tattoos denoted only obedience.They had no more choice than a demon’s vessel and were always wide awake through it all.“Mercy” he whispered over their bodies, a hope and an explanation, and a prayer.It was the only benediction they would receive.

He didn’t stop to mourn the innocent though.Hemoved through the last door, gun held high.He stopped as soon as he was inside the room, his breath catching at the sight before him.The new ‘scape stood over Jensen, his hands bloody and eyes red shot.He held a knife in one hand and Dean didn’t hesitate when the man began to swing down at the table where his lover lay.One shot to the hand to stop the blow and then another to the head when he looked up, howling in pain.

If it had been anyone else on the table, he would have shot to injure, but it wasn’t. There wasn’t anything that man could tell him that he wanted bad enough to keep him alive. He tucked the gun into his pants and moved to the table then. “Jensen?” He called softly, afraid of what he’d find but knowing he had to get them both out of there. He had to be alive. The guy wouldn’t have been ready to bring the knife down again if he weren’t.

There was no answer and as soon as he approached Dean could see why. Jensen’s face was a mess of blood and bruises. His shirt was ripped open and he could see shallow slashes there. It wasn’t enough to explain his unconsciousness, but when Dean started feeling around, he found the small trickle of blood at the back of his head. Whatever had hit him was hard enough to knock him out and crack his skull.

He knew, in optimum circumstances, that he shouldn’t move him, but he didn’t have a choice.He took a second to walk out and when he made sure the hallway was still clear, he went to the doctor’s station, grabbing whatever first aid supplies he could take.He found a bag among their attackers and he filled it full.He said a silent thanks to his father for the years of field medic training that allowed him to quickly access the medical supplies and know what would be of most use to them.

With a full bag and a cleared hallway, Dean went back to Jensen and put him into a fireman’s hold. He didn’t know how long he could take him like that, but he’d do his best until Jensen started to wake up. It was all he could do. Alec and Priestly would wait for them at their number 3 hide out. Once they got there, they’d worry about everything else.

 

 

The first night, Dean stopped at an abandoned hospital. There wasn’t anything of value there and there hadn’t been since they moved into the base and cleared out anything they could find. What had been left at that point anyway. It had beds though and it was far enough away from the enemy that he felt they could rest for the night. He treated Jensen’s wounds and tried not to worry too much about the fact that he hadn’t woken up yet. It wasn’t working very well but exhaustion set in and he curled up on the hospital bed beside his lover, hand over his heart so he would know if anything happened to him during the night.

“Come on Jens,” he whispered softly to the other man. “You can’t leave me now. We’re gonna rest for a bit, but I need you tomorrow. You gotta wake up for me.”  


 

_Dean stared across the pen, watching as the men and women shuffled around him. There were no elderly or children with them; they were separated into different pens. He knew what was happening to the elderly. He’d smelled enough burning flesh to know what was fueling the fires and he’d ripped his shirt tail to get something to wrap over his mouth and nose to keep the stench out. He wasn’t the only one who had, the smoke and ash burning heavy in the area, but he figured he was one of the few who understood what it was. The children, he’d heard from one of the guards, were being taken elsewhere. A facility for training. He didn’t like the sound of it, but it was better than the instant death the others had in his opinion. He knew one man who had been through true militaristic training at a young age though, who’d had no one to care for him but facility administration and he said he’d rather see the children die in the fires. Dean didn’t know what to think of that, but the look on Alec’sface when they’d realized where the children were heading was enough to make Dean let it go. He didn’t think he wanted to know what put that sort of pain in the hardened soldier’s eyes._

_They weren’t far in yet, just at the first gate really and he didn’t have an opening yet. He knew Sam was somewhere inside but it didn’t help him in any way. His brother was unattainable still. They didn’t have enough men to get to him and until they did he couldn’t risk it. Not that he didn’t want to, but he knew if he died in the attempt, there would be no one else to push for it, no one else that understood why getting Sam away from the others was so damn important. Except for Alec and he knew as well as the other man that people weren’t likely to follow the Transgenic in for Sam if Dean died in the first attempt to save him._

_He could see Alec at the other side. They didn’t talk, didn’t gesture, but a single nod let Dean know that Alec was ready to move. They had guns. They weren’t’ far enough in to be searched yet, but it didn’t really matter. Alec was a walking weapon with speed and strength that surpassed a regular person. He knew why, understood the how of it all, but none of it really mattered anymore. All that mattered was that Alec was there with him, ready to fight or die by his side._

_They heard the grating of the gates as they opened, metal pushing over abused concrete, and Alec was moving then, his speed a blur as he ran through the opening. Dean didn’t move through the gates, but pulled his concealed gun out and took the first shot at the guard on the right. He saw the man fall, watching another as Alec reached the top of the gates. A few seconds later the gates in front of them creaked to a halt and the gates behind began to open._

_“Get out!” Dean yelled through the crowd. “Get the hell out of here!”_

_People were too shocked to move, too terrorized to understand what they needed to do. It was then the other people started filing back through the interior gate. He could see Alec in the midst, see that he’d managed to get to the interior cages as well. They’d agreed not to do it if it was too much of a risk and Dean knew he’d have to give Alec a talking to from the way he was holding his left arm, but not yet._

_Alec was at his side, another man with him and he took a second to look Alec over and make sure there was nothing more serious before he turned to the newcomer. He took a step back before he could stop himself. Another one of them. He didn’t know why, didn’t understand it, but there he was all the same. He took a deep breath and Alec filled the silence. “Dean, Jensen. Jensen, Dean. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”_

_“Tell that to them.” Dean said, a wary look at Jensen before he faced the people around them. Other than the people from the inner cages joining them in the exposed front gate courtyard, they still weren’t moving._

_Jensen took a second to assess the situation and suddenly he was at the front gate. “Come with me!” He yelled into the crowd. “We’ll all die if we stay here, but we can get out of this together!” He grabbed the nearest person by the hand and pulled them towards him. The man grabbed for a young woman, probably his daughter, Dean thought with the way he clutched at her. “We need to get to safety before they find out we’ve escaped! Follow me!”_

_It wasn’t Shakespeare, but it got them moving. Alec stayed in the middle of the group, helping them out and keeping them going while Dean worked at the end, always keeping an eye on their back. They got further than they’d expected before the others came for them. They didn’t have anyplace to go, no place to take anyone so they all scattered, but they were free at least. They’d managed that much. He saw they way some of them moved and knew there was training there. He told those people to take as many as they could and work their way south. They’d try to find them when things weren’t so hot._

_They didn’t know how many they saved that night, but when Dean and Alec found a place to rest that night, Jensen was at their side._

_“You did pretty good out there.” Alec said to Jensen as Dean paced the room._

_Jensen watched Dean moving, but he turned back to Alec. “Sometimes people need to be told what to do. Sometimes, they need to be shown. It would have been better if they knew they were going someplace safe.”_

_Alec snorted. “Sure, if there was such a thing.”_

_“Why did you bother to save us if you didn’t have anyplace for us to go?”_

_“You wanna go back to that cage princess, we’ll be more than happy to leave you here to get caught.” Dean growled._

_“Would it be better than starving to death?”_

_“You won’t starve. We’ll take care of you.” Alec said softly. “I told you we would.”_

_“So that’s the grand plan?”_

_It was the last straw for Dean and he was on Jensen a second later, slamming him hard against the wall. “Look, we risked our lives to get you out of there. No, we don’t have any other plans. We don’t have enough people left in the world to make plans. So right now, we’re just getting people out. Unless you think you can find a safe place, back the fuck off.”_

_He pushed hard again, making Jensen’s head hit the back of the wall before he backed away. Jensen’s eyes were wide in astonishment but he didn’t say anything. Alec checked him over a few minutes later and stayed close to him the rest of the night. He only went to Dean once, knowing that Dean needed the space after being so close to his brother and not being able to do anything about it. A simple hand on his shoulder was all Alec could give him, but it was enough. He was as close to family as Dean had anymore, and Dean was the only thing Alec had. He was the only one that understood in the slightest what Sam meant to him and how hard the day had been, how hard every day had been since his brother had been taken._

_Dean didn’t sleep that night, but in the morning Jensen came to him. “Let me help.”_

_It was a simple request and one he didn’t know how to answer. Jensen didn’t wait for one though. “I don’t know how to fight like you do, but I can read people and I know how to get them moving. We can find a home base, a base of operations and I can organize things for you. You’re right. I don’t want to go back to a prison cage and I don’t have a better plan, but maybe the three of us can figure something out.”_

_Alec stood behind him, eyes trying to express something Dean just didn’t understand. He was good at reading people too, but Alec baffled him. He didn’t know if it was because he was transgenic or if it was because of the confused feelings he had for him. There were times he was ready to throttle Alec until he shut up that pretty mouth of his and there were times he wanted to kiss him stupid. Since they looked alike and he’d never had a taste for men before, it was entirely fucked up. He was fucked and he didn’t have time to figure it out._

_One thing was certain though. Alec was hovering over the other man like he was a lifeline. He seemed like a normal guy though, someone who would understand the other people better and that was a consideration. Besides, Alec wanted to keep the guy around and it wasn’t like Dean had any objections. If the guy could help, it’d be nice to have another set of hands they could rely on._

_He gave them both his best smirk. “Well, guess you’re not just a pretty face after all.”_  


 

 

It was barely light when Dean started moving again.His legs protested the abuse and he ignored the pain in his back.He was good at that.He’d become used to it over the years.He had to move though, had to get going and he couldn’t wait for Jensen to wake up.He’d allowed himself a few minutes to freak out that morning, when he’d felt his lover’s heartbeat under his hand but had still been unable to wake him.A few minutes to let loose the fears that were building in him and then he was up and moving again.There were still wheelchairs and things of that nature in the hospital, but Dean couldn’t travel by the roads and there was no way anything on wheels was going to take him where they needed to go, so he simply pulled Jensen back into a fireman’s hold and carried him out.

He moved to the east, knowing of a small reserve they had set up on the banks. He was there an hour later and he closed his eyes for a few minutes, grateful for the water purifier and meager supply of army rations stored there. He got some water in Jensen and barely kept back the tears when the other man’s lips moved against the bottle. He wasn’t waking up yet, but it was the most activity he’d shown yet and Dean held on to that like it was a promise. Jensen wouldn’t be able to eat and he wasn’t about to try to force something down him, but he took comfort in the meager amount of rations he allowed himself. He packed the rest of the rations in his bag along with the purifier. He didn’t know what he’d find down the road and that’s what their little stashes had been put in place for to begin with.

The rest of the day was uneventful. He was travelling slower than he wanted and he continued to push himself, but there was only so much he could do. He wished Alec were there, with his extra strength and inhuman endurance. Jensen wasn’t so lucky though, he was stuck with Dean so he would do his best.

Jensen moved a little more in his sleep that night and while it kept Dean from sleeping well, he didn’t begrudge the fact.It seemed less likely to be a coma than he’d originally feared.If it had something to do with the psychics, the further he got him away from them the better.Proximity to his mark would protect Jensen better than anything else if that were the case.

It was midday before he realized he was almost there.He was exhausted, but the abandoned hotel was coming into view.They tried to find hide outs that came with beds if they could, even if nothing else about the places was worth remembering.Alec had been the one to think about setting up little hideaways, places they could escape if needed, places that no one else knew about.If Alec had gotten anyone else out of the bunker, he’d have seen them safely to another place, found someone else to keep everyone calm and get them moving to the second base.He’d be waiting at 3, with Priestly unless 3 was compromised, but there was no sign that anyone had been that way in years.At least no large troop movements.

He stumbled in the rocky terrain, looking down to see he’d almost fallen into a crater.The bombs in the first days had been devastating to the larger populated areas and Dean almost forgot that this little town had somehow warranted one as well.Probably a misfire.He took a deep breath, lungs burning from exertion and he wasn’t sure he’d make it back up if he fell to his knees again.

“Dean?”

He heard his name and blinked, trying to wipe the weariness from his vision. It took a second to see more of the details, but then Alec was there, waiting for a sign that he’d been recognized, Priestly at his back, eyes wide and fingers clenched into hard fists.

“Alec?”

Then there were hands on him, Alec, pulling Jensen from his grip and Priestly at his side, supporting him when the weight that left his shoulders made his own steps so much heavier.

“What happened?” Alec asked as they led him back to the building.

Dean shrugged, or tried to.He wasn’t sure how much his body was responding anymore.He knew the only reason he was still upright was because of Priestly’s arm around his waist and his hand holding his other arm over his shoulder.“The kid must have still been hopped up on psychic juice.”Dean said quietly.“Besides him, there was a psychic and two guards on him.They’re all gone now.They were,“ he stopped, unable to talk about what he’d walked in on.Maybe later, maybe when Jensen was okay and he could let his anger take over, but not yet.

“We got him now Dean.” Priestly said in his ear. “He’ll be alright now.”

It would have been reassuring, but when he tried to catch Alec’s eye, the other man wouldn’t look at him. They both knew it was going to be a long night.  
  
  
 

 

 

_“And who the hell put you in charge anyway?” Dean asked, staring at the other two men in disgust._

_“You did. When you set me loose with nothing else to do.” Jensen didn’t even bother to look up from the papers in front of him. They’d found a paper distributor’s warehouse that was completely untouched and Jensen has refused to leave. He apparently was fond of making lists. The fact that it was next door to a hospice just made it more impossible to pass up on. Jensen kept talking about the number of people that could sleep in the hospice, the way the kitchen was set up, and the use they could make out of the open area of the warehouse. Alec was nodding his head in agreement. Jensen’s first duty, apparently, had been to put Alec in charge of supplies and supply runs, which meant Dean was being made responsible for the new ‘scapes and teaching them how to survive. Yeah, he was just thrilled._

_“So now you think we have to do your bidding? Because I got to tell you… you ain’t that pretty.”_

_Jensen stood, something burning in his eyes that Dean didn’t understand. Jensen wasn’t something he understood. Alec was a soldier just like him. As different as they were, he could look at Alec’s face and understand him, even if he didn’t understand the things he did. Deep down, he understood the man._

_Jensen though, was different. Jensen didn’t have the hardness in him that Alec did. He wasn’t a soldier, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t steal underneath it all. It reminded him of Bobby in some ways. Bobby was always there to help you out, he knew who could do what and he knew when to kick your ass when you needed it. His whole life, Bobby had been the person who put Dean first, never after someone else, and he’d always taken care of him, even after Dean had become the better hunter._

_It scared him to see that in Jensen. It scared him to think that the other man just might see something in him worth saving. He knew it was true though. He knew that Jensen fought with him because he cared too much, because he needed Dean to understand something more than blood and revenge. He was the reason Dean wasn’t dead trying to get Sam back yet. He was the reason there was a plan to fight back, not just free people._

_It didn’t mean Dean wanted to go along with it though._

_“Listen to me Dean, because I’m only going to say this once.” Jensen stalked forward, getting in Dean’s face and Dean stepped back until he was against the wall. He felt trapped by the other man’s gaze, by the heat in it and he knew he couldn’t fight against it, couldn’t ignore what was happening or fight his way out of this corner. This fight, it wasn’t of Jensen’s making anymore than it was his or Alec’s._

_“We are all that we have right now. The entire fucking world blew up in our faces and there aren’t enough of us left. We have to get the people out that we can and we have to strike where we can. I don’t want to do this anymore than you do. I want to bury my goddamn head so far in the ground that I can’t even hear my own breath. I don’t know how to fight this, but you and Alec do, so I need you. I’ll make the plans, and I’ll organize everything, but I can’t do what you can.”_

_He could see the way Jensen’s jaw tightened, saw that whatever he was about to say was a painful admission but he couldn’t open his mouth to stop it. “I need you to make me brave Dean. If you and Alec are out there, I can’t be back here hiding from it all. Show the world our face Dean, show them our bravery. That’s what I need you for.”_

_Dean closed his eyes and he felt Jensen step away, felt the fall of his footsteps across the room. When he opened his eyes, Alec was still there, his eyes wide and pained. Neither of them were made for this, but Jensen was right. They didn’t have a choice._

_Alec shook his head softly as he crossed the room. He didn’t lean beside him against the wall the way Dean expected him too, but he stopped, just a bit in front of him and to one side. He let one hand rest over Dean’s chest as he leaned forward, his forehead stopping on Dean’s shoulder. “We’re screwed. He’s got us both so tied up in knots if he told us to jump we’d cross the moon before even wondering how high.”_

_Dean snorted because it was too close to the truth for him to call him out on it. They’d been taking orders from Jensen since they’d found him and it didn’t look like it would stop anytime soon. He felt comfort in knowing Alec felt the same though. He felt comfort from the contact and he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall. He pushed away the confusion Alec caused in him, pushed away the same attraction to Jensen and just let himself rest there. Dean’s hand pulled at Alec’s hip and the transgenic relaxed into him, pressing closer._

_He felt Alec’s hands fisting in his shirt and Dean’s other hand came up, running over the barcode that marked him so different than the rest of them. He let his fingers play across the skin, then caress the short hair there. He didn’t know what the next day would bring. If Jensen had his way, they’d be setting up shop to take in a whole herd of escapees. Alec would make sure supplies came in and were fairly distributed and Dean would be the one training them. He didn’t think it could work, didn’t think he knew how to train people on that level, but he had to try. He needed more than revenge. Jensen was right. They had to do something more than just get by._

_With Alec pressed against him and Jensen’s words burning through his mind, he thought just maybe, it might be worth trying._  


 

Dean woke, confused and pained.Sitting up quickly, he had to close his eyes to stop the room from spinning around him.He felt hands pushing him back down and then his name, a harsh whisper that was insistent and concerned.He knew the voice, recognized the hands and when the room stopped spinning, he remembered the graying, cracked ceiling.He looked up to find Alec standing over him even as he reached a hand out to find Jensen still at his side.

“He hasn’t woken up yet.” Alec said softly as Dean slowly sat up on his side to look at the other man.

Jensen looked pale, but he seemed better than he had before. There was more color to his face than there had been when Alec had set him in the bed. Priestly smiled slightly at Dean, but his concentration was all for Jensen. He held the other man’s hand lightly, as if the physical contact would mean something. Dean didn’t know if it would or not, but he was willing to let Priestly sit there as long as he wanted if he thought it might do something. Even if it just made Priestly feel better.

Dean reached out slowly, letting his hand rest on top of Priestly’s for a minute. “Glad to see you made it out okay.” His voice was more of a growl than anything else, but he could see from the way Priestly looked at him that he understood. He gave one of those rare smiled, the one that shed the sarcasm and cynicism and reflected the beauty of the man beneath it all, and all Dean could do was smile back.

“You didn’t worry about me?” Alec asked, fake pout in place as he sat down beside Priestly, one hand running over his lover’s back as he made eyes at Dean.

Dean smiled. “Alec, you’re harder to kill than a cockroach. I never worry about you not coming back. Nothing keeps you down.”

Alec smiled back at him and there was understanding there as well, as there always was. You don’t worry about the soldiers until after the battle is over. Get the civilians, get the people that can’t do for themselves, and then you worry about the soldiers. It was the basics of who Alec and Dean were. Take care of Jensen. Take care of Priestly. The rest would fall in line.

“You know me. I’m always alright.”

Dean looked at Alec for a minute, really looked because Alec was never alright when he said that, but he was as good at locking down his feelings as his father ever had been. He thought about asking Alec, about trying to pry it from him because he was sure he could if he applied the right pressure, but Alec seemed to realize he’d over said something.

“We got more fluids in him and we’re making sure the antibiotics are staying with him as well. He had a lot of small cuts that could get infected too easy. I think until Jensen heals up a bit, we’re stuck here.”

Dean nodded, allowing Alec whatever it was that he needed. “I should check for supplies.” Dean said, feeling the need to do something. He didn’t care what, he just needed to move. He couldn’t just sit there with Jensen so unresponsive.

“No.” Alec said immediately. Priestly looked up in surprise at the vehemence in his voice, but he didn’t stop there. “We don’t know what caused this yet. You need to stay with him. If it’s something the psychics did… Sam is his best hope.”

“Sam?”

They never mentioned it among them.The only time his brother had been spoken of in front of Priestly had been that first night when Dean had nearly broken from the relief that he was still alive.He knew.He’d have felt it if something happened to Sam, but having that faith and knowing it were different things.

“My tattoo.” Alec’s hand came up to rest against it and Dean closed his eyes for a second. “Sam, my brother, he bound us together with it. The psychics can’t find me because of it and they have problems finding anyone in my proximity.”

“That’s why you always go on the raids.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah. I have a better chance at getting past the psychics than anyone else.”

“You mean you have a better chance at killing them.”

“Yeah.”The word felt heavy between them.He’d never really talked to Priestly about the raids and what he did.Priestly had seen his share of the nastiness in the world before he’d been caged and Dean didn’t want to add to it by sharing what it was he did now.

“He hates it, you know?” Priestly said, looking down at Jensen’s hand in his own. “He hates that you have to do that. That you think you’re the only one that can keep us safe.”

Dean nodded. “I know.” But the words were tinged with amusement as he lay back down, pulling Jensen against him. “He was never very good at keeping his opinions to himself.”  
  
 

 

 

_“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”_

_Dean dropped into the chair and Alec was at his side, ignoring Jensen’s indignant question. He pushed the jacket off Dean’s shoulders and didn’t stop when Dean hissed as it pulled against the bullet wound._

_“We need to get you down to medical.” Jensen said, his voice demanding._

_“No.” Dean answered as he looked up at the other man. Alec worked to unbutton his shirt and he was already pulling a pair of scissors from the medical kit to start cutting his shirt away to cause Dean less pain._

_“Dean, this isn’t some macho game. Let go of your pride and go get some real help.”_

_He heard Alec sigh as he finished cleaning the wound, felt the cool spread of ointment against his skin and the press of gauze against the wound, tape adhering to his skin._

_“Pride? You think this is about my pride?” Dean tried to keep his voice level, but it was raising quickly. “This isn’t about my pride Jensen. You wanted to make something out of all this and that’s what we’re doing. I can’t stay in the back though and I won’t let other people die when I’m there to do something about it.”_

_“Alec shouldn’t be treating your wounds Dean! Can’t you just admit, for more than two seconds, that someone outside this room can help you?”_

_He felt Alec stand and Dean followed the motion, turning his full height against Jensen. It didn’t meant much since they were all the same height, but when Dean did it, his demeanor become more intimidating and they all gave him a wide birth when that happened. “You wanted us to take control of this Jensen, well now you’ve got it. Alec can take care of me just fine, and not just because he’d got the training and I trust him. Because I can’t go out there and let the men see me hurting. This thing you built, it’s a fucking house of glass and these men are looking everywhere to find the cracks that will bring it down. I have to be strong Jensen. I can’t be the weakness that will let that happen. You told me to be brave for you Jensen and I’m doing everything I can to show that face to the world.”_

_He didn’t know when he’d started walking forward, but Jensen was suddenly against the wall and Dean had him pinned there. Jensen’s eyes were wide but there was still fire in them. Whatever was happening wasn’t backing him down at all._

_“I told you to be brave not stupid!” Jensen yelled._

_He felt Alec at his back, felt a hand on his shoulder as if he could calm him down with that. It’d worked before but this fight when Jensen had been brewing since they met. “What the hell do you care?” Dean demanded. “I did what you asked and I will continue to do what you asked so back the hell off.”_

_“Do you have any idea what it’s like to be back here, waiting to see what shape you’ll be in this time?”_

_Something in Jensen’s voice made Dean take a step back, but Alec was there. He felt Alec’s fingers press into the skin at his hips and he suppressed the shudder than ran through him at the contact. Something must have shown on his face though because then Jensen was looking down at Alec’s hands and then over his shoulder at the other man. Suddenly Jensen was stepping closer and Dean knew Alec wasn’t going to let him back away this time._

_“You don’t get to do this Dean.” His voice was calmer now, soothing like it was with the new ‘scapes when they looked like they might try to run. “You’re not the only one confused, but you don’t get to deal with it by getting yourself killed for us.”_

_“I’m not… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”_

_Jensen smiled. “Really?”_

_He stepped closer, bringing them chest to chest. One of Alec’s hands left his hip and he saw the way he gripped Jensen’s hip, pulling him tighter. He couldn’t deal with this, couldn’t look at Jensen and see the emotion so clear on his face so he turned to look sideways. “What the hell Alec?”_

_“We’re drowning in this Dean, but it can be okay. It can just be… us.” He lowered his eyes then, lowered his chin just enough that full lips brushed against Dean’s bare shoulder opposite of the wound Alec had just cared for. Dean closed his eyes, trying to understand what Alec was saying, what Jensen was telling him with those damn expressive eyes of his._

_He felt Jensen’s hand turning his face, felt the press of lips to his and then there was nothing else to fight. He couldn’t do this all alone and he couldn’t fight this thing between them if they weren’t willing to help. It would only get them killed, get them all killed because no one that Dean cared about ever stayed for long, but they weren’t giving him a choice._

_Alec was right. They were all drowning. He reached back with one hand, pulling Alec tighter to him and the other hand cupped Jensen’s face, deepening the kiss. He didn’t know if they’d make it or not, but they had to give this a try. They’d sink or swim together._

 

 

“Is he going to sleep forever?”

“It’s been a pretty hard few days for him.”

“I notice you don’t seem to be lacking sleep.”

“I had to comfort Priestly.”

He woke to laughter and even before his eyes opened, his lips were curved into a smile because he knew who that laugh belonged to. He let it settle into his skin, let it fill his body.

He felt his lover shift beside him and then lips were pressed to his. “Wake up or I’m going to eat all the food when Priestly brings it up.”

Dean opened his eyes and took a deep breath as he looked up into Jensen’s beautiful eyes. “Greedy.”

Jensen smiled and neither looked up when they heard Alec leaving the room. “Alec said you carried me from the base?”

“Well you weren’t up for a marathon.” Dean said, trying to downplay what had happened. “Too bad Alec didn’t find you. He probably could have made it here in half the time.”

“Don’t Dean.” Jensen said, pressing his lips to Dean’s again. “Just... let me say thank you, alright?”

Dean didn’t know what to do. He hated when Jensen got like that, but his lover needed to say it. They’d been together for too long not to know that about him. Just like Jensen knew how uncomfortable it made him. “Yeah.” He said softly. “Okay.”

“You should have left me there.” And Jensen knew him well enough to press fingers to his lips before he could say something. “You should have taken care of yourself but I know it’s not who you are. So, thank you for taking care of me.”

“Alec did-”

“Some of it, yes. But he said you’d cleaned my wounds and taken care of them before I got here. He said I was still hydrated and that you’d managed to get me away from the 4 men that attacked me in detox. Thank you.” He kissed Dean again, then let his forehead rest on Dean’s. “Just say you’re welcome.”

Dean let out a small laugh because he’d been trying to think of something else to say.Instead, he wrapped one hand around the back of Jensen’s neck.“Go to detox without one of us again and I swear I’ll kill you.”Jensen laughed, his breath whispering across Dean’s cheek before Dean felt himself grounded enough to say it.

He looked up at Jensen then, thought about the too much that ran between them all, and smiled. “You’re welcome.”

 

 


End file.
